


A Godmother's duty

by orphan_account



Category: Maleficent (2014)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, F/F, Genderswap, accidentally raising a child together, fem!Diaval
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-28
Updated: 2014-06-12
Packaged: 2018-01-26 22:27:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1704809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maleficent never meant to have a role in the life of that child, now that the curse had been cast.<br/>What she meant for mattered little however. Someone had to make sure the little one didn't die a ridiculous death before her time had come.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Diaval is a woman for no reason other than because I can, and because as adorable as he was in the film, the idea of an awkward and grumpy lady who would much rather be a bird does things to me.

“The little beasty is going to starve with those three” Maleficent claimed, and she did not feel quite as satisfied by it as she ought to. She wanted her revenge, and that came through the little monster's death, but starvation was cruel.

Beside, she wanted the little one to die by her own hand, not because Stefan had given her to the most incompetent of guardians. He ought to have known better. She had made him meet the pixies, he had talked to them, how could he have forgotten was they were like, how could he... but then, how could he have done any of the things he had done. They were not made to mingle, fairies and humans, they were too different... and the little horror would be a warning for all of them.

“What do little humans even eat?” she sighed, the child's desperate cries piercing her ears.

Diaval hopped on his feet next to her, and croaked until she turned her human.

“Baby humans drink milk,” she smugly announced, as if the fact were common knowledge.

“Milk? Like fawns and rabbits?”

“And like cows and goats. A lot of wingless animals do that, I'm surprised you don't know.”

Maleficent glared at the raven. She wished she had found a less cheeky servant.

“I know what I have to know, bird. But you of the great wisdom, tell me, where shall I find milk so that the little horror doesn't die before my curse kills her?”

That rendered Diaval silent, and it was no small feat. Enjoying the relative calm, now that there was only the crying babe to distract her. Without really thinking, she conjured a small flower somewhat shaped like a teat, dripping a whitish liquid. Diaval opened her mouth to comment on it, but Maleficent swiftly turned her back into a raven to avoid it.

“Take that to the little beasty,” she ordered. “If these three flower-brains cannot keep the child alive, then I suppose we will have to, until it is old enough to care for itself.”

Diaval delicately took the flower, and flew away toward the cottage, entering the window of the baby's room. Immediately, the crying stopped, and Maleficent felt a tension she hadn't noticed leave her. When Diaval came back, her mission accomplished, she was given as a reward a large, colourful beetle that seemed to please her well enough. When she was done eating, Maleficent turned her human once more.

“They're going to need lessons in caring for a child, these three,” the raven sneered. “They know nothing about how human fawns are. She was famished and she's starting to attract flies already because they're leaving her in her own shit. Couldn't do anything about it, didn't have hands.”

“I will come with you next time, and give you hands to clean her then,” Maleficent sighed. “Or I could force them to clean her themselves. Maybe if she got wet... Certainly, even these three would know better than to leave her in soaked garments...”

“Wouldn't bet on it.”

“We shall try anyway,” the fairy decided.

If nothing else, it would certainly be amusing to tease these three again.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the pixies are not the only ones with a limited understanding of human children

The pixies did wash Aurora after the storm inside their house, and the little horror soon learned to accept that it would only get the food it needed from Diaval.

It wasn't that Knotgrass, Thistlewit and Flittle didn't like the child... they seemed to adore the little one in their own way, but pixies were not human. They came into existence almost fully formed, and within days they could fend for themselves as well as they ever would. They expected the same from Aurora, but humans, who had such short lives, spent years of it just learning to be alive. A waste of time, and a strange way to do things, but they were strange creatures.

“It would be best if she learned to walk soon,” Maleficent complained one day, when the pixies had forgotten their ward's basket in a clearing and she had to brought her back to their cottage. “And to speak. They cannot be expected to understand her when all she does is cry and cry again. How long will it be until she's independent?”

“I have asked around,” Diaval replied. “She will start walking and talking in a few months, but it'll be years until she can take care of herself. Everyone is clear: little humans who are without a parent during the first... oh, _ten_ years of their life will die.”

“Ten years?” the fairy exclaimed. “ _Ten_ years! But that is more than half of the time I gave for her to live! There is not much point in cursing her if I have to do such efforts to keep her alive! Ten years! How do humans even bear it? I was three when I had to care for my own life!”

The raven shrugged, and noticing that the child was awake, grimaced at her, earning a smile. The little beasty smiled far too much for a babe that was so constantly forgotten and ignored. One of the pixies' gifts to her, no doubt. Their sort valued beauty and good humour above all else. It was what made them pleasant companies, even when their conversation was dull.

“She might manage before that,” Diaval claimed. “She seems clever enough. And she has more motivation to do things on her own that farmers' children. Besides, we'll be here to help, won't we?”

Maleficent sighed, and rolled her eyes. This was not what she had planned at all. Sixteen years had been meant to be a short time for the princess to live, because she knew that humans did not last as long as fairies, but now it seemed too short.

“We'll have to help, really,” Diaval added with a chuckle. “Even with proper care, a lot of little humans die before they are five, from... getting sick, or falling into stairs, or all sort of things. She might die of just being alive before your curse can hit her.”

The raven's amusement annoyed Maleficent who immediately turned her back into a bird to put an end to it. She looked down at the child in the basket, and frowned. The baby smiled at her, just as infuriating as Diaval because she refused to properly fear her. It had been a long time since Maleficent had not been feared by a human. Not since the end of her friendship with Stefan. She wasn't sure if it saddened or pleased her. She wasn't sure she wanted to know.

“So you are prone to sickness then?” she told the child, her voice dry to make it clear she disapproved. “Fragile and incapable of fending for yourself, and then you might also get sick? This simply won't do. You are lucky I want you to die at my hand. I know some charms that might protect you, and I know fairies who know yet more. You will survive until your sixteenth birthday, little beasty, and only I shall end your life.”

Somewhere on a branch above them, Diaval made a strange noise, as close to laughter as could be made by a raven.

“Quiet you, or I will turn you into a pigeon.”

Diaval cried in protest, then fell silent, and Maleficent smiled. That irritating human child might not have the sense to fear her, but she could still be frightening to more clever creatures, and that was a small comfort.

“Let us get you back to your aunties then,” the fairy told the child. “And if you are very lucky, they might even have noticed that you are gone this time.”

 


End file.
